The Rising of the Dawn
by Aeterna Aurora et Crepusculum
Summary: 10 years after Luna's return, Twilight and her friends have gone separate ways, pursuing their own paths in life. With her friends invited to the Summer Sun Festival in Canterlot, hopefully Twilight can bring all of her friends together again.
1. Chapter 1

And so this story begins. I've had this story floating around in my head for roughly the last five months and I've finally decided to share it.

And remember, Reviews are nice.

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><p>A purple unicorn lay asleep, her head resting on the desk she had worked at all night. An owl perched by a broken window hooted softly, just as the sun's rays shone through the shattered window. As if in response, a young purple dragon with green crest scales walked in the room, carring a tray which had a bowl filled with grain, a steaming cup fill with a dark brown liquid, and a small brown bar.<p>

He carefully cleared a space on the desk, moving books and scrolls alike into neat stacks and piles. After doing this, the dragon set the tray on the desk and gently nudged the unicorn right above the mark of on her flank, that of glimmering lights. As he did this, the owl glided from its perch to the tray, landing just long enough to grab the small bar, then flying back to its perch.

"C'mon Twilight," the young dragon said. "You need to wake up. Owloysius already ate, you need to too."

Twilight Sparkle raised her and looked at the dragon who woke her up.

"Spike? Wha…?" She shook her head, dispelling her sleepiness. "Huh? Oh, thank you Spike."

Twilight pointed the horn on her head towards the tray, slightly narrowing her eyes in concentration. The bowl and cup levitated off the tray and floated towards the unicorn. The rest of her desk suddenly became alive with motion as scrolls and books flew off it into places on shelves around the room. The bowl and cup settled neatly in front of her.

Spike grabbed several of the books flying about the room, checking the titles on them. _Scrying and Science_, _Enchanted Stained Glass, _and _The Visual Structure of Windows _were among them.

"Trying to make new windows?" he said, gesturing towards the shattered window.

"No. Well, yes," was the unicorn's response. "I'm trying to create glass that can transmit image and sound. Well, me and the team I'm working with. If it works, I'll be able to talk with any pony that has one. Can you imagine, Spike? Being able to communicate with ponies all over Equestria instantaneously? We could talk with the girls all the time!"

"Yeah, and put me out of a job," Spike replied sullenly.

"Oh, Spike, you wouldn't be out of a job," Twilight said, playfully nudging the dragon's shoulder with her hoof. "You're still my assistant after all."

Twilight walked to the broken window, horn glowing with magic. She frowned slightly, eyes focusing on the destroyed glass. Tilting her head towards the window, the magic from her horn spread to the glass, causing it to stretch and slide. From where Spike stood, it seemed as if the glass was boiling. After just a few seconds, the magic retreated from the glass, revealing a single pane of glass, as if it had never broken.

Twilight gazed through the newly repaired window over the city of Canterlot. A few ponies were walking in the shadowy streets of the capital of Equestria. She could see the sun rising over the hills on the horizon, its rays beginning to claim the streets from the shadows.

The purple unicorn idly wondered what her friends were doing at that moment. She knew that Applejack was already up, tending her family's orchid with her brother and sister, Big Mac and Applebloom. Twilight knew firsthand how many chores were required to keep Sweet Apple Acres running, as she and her friends had helped out on occasion.

Her thoughts wandered to another of her friends, the energetic Pinkamena Diane Pie, better known to the residents of Ponyville as Pinkie Pie. The pink Earth Pony was likely awake, tending the ovens at Sugar Cube Corner, which she ran with the help of Pumpkin and Pound Cake.

Twilight next thought of her friend Rarity. The self-proclaimed fashionista was well deserving of the title: the last time Twilight had checked, Rarity had cornered the clothing market in Fillydelphia, where the white unicorn lived. Rarity was likely to still be asleep; the glamorous unicorn worked longer than Twilight did.

Her friend Fluttershy was definitely awake; she had to be considering the number of her animal tenants. Twilight recalled when she and her friends had helped the nervous pegasus move to her new home that was practically inside the Everfree Forest; Twilight hadn't realized that so many rabbits could fit in one room. She chuckled at the thought of those bunnies. They certainly kept Fluttershy busy.

Twilight wondered what Rainbow Dash was doing. She hadn't heard much from the blue pegasus. Twilight knew that she had finally been accepted into the Wonderbolts, but after that, Rainbow Dash had been secretive. She had hinted at being onto a huge new job, but wanted it to be kept quiet, just in case something didn't work out.

Owloysius hooted and glided down to Twilight's back, landing without a sound. Spike joined her at the window, gazing out over Canterlot.

"Hey, you know what?" Spike said suddenly.

"Hmm? What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked, turning from the window and walking back to her desk to eat her breakfast.

"It's been almost ten years since we left here for Ponyville!" The purple dragon seemed ecstatic. "We should celebrate!"

Twilight smirked at her assistant. "If this is just an excuse to use your 'Spiked' joke again…."

"No," Spike said, looking at his feet bashfully, "although it is a good joke. Maybe we should try getting everybody together, maybe even head back to Ponyville."

The unicorn nodded slowly. "Maybe we should. It would be nice for a change of scenery." Twilight levitated a spoon from her desk and began to eat her cereal. Thoughtful expressions crossed her face as she chewed her food. After swallowing, she said, "But I do have a lot of work to do for the Summer Sun Festival coming up too. I'll write a letter to the princess and see if I can get some time off."

Twilight quickly finished the rest of her food, then levitated her cup to her lips. A quill and paper shot in front of her, the quill dancing across the parchment, fueled by her magic. Just as she finished her drink, the paper rolled itself into a scroll and a wax seal appeared on it.

The scroll fell into Spike's waiting hand. He pursed his lips and let loose a small green flame. The scroll was consumed by the fire and crumbled into ash, which then flowed out the door of the room.

"Should I start packing now? Or should I meet with the team first? Or maybe a letter to the girls? Or-" Twilight said rapid fast, pacing the room.

"Calm down, Twilight. Maybe we should-" Whatever Spike was going to suggest was prevented as he belched forth a green flame. The fire spun and coalesced into a scroll, which fell towards the ground. Owloysius flew down and caught the scroll, then turned and glided over the desk, dropping it before returning to her perch.

"It's from the princess!" Twilight said excitedly. Using her magic, she quickly opened the scroll and read it.

_To my faithful and former student, Twilight Sparkle,_

_ Has it really been ten years since I sent a young unicorn who lived in the library to Ponyville? So much has happened in this last decade, my sister's return, the return and fall of Discord, even my protégé's training._

_ I know how much that journey affected you all those years ago, and I sincerely wish that you could go. However, if you do go, I fear that without you management skills the festival might not occur on schedule._

Twilight's heart sank as she read this. _'Not able to visit my friends?' _she thought. She willed herself to read on.

_ I do believe, however, that I have an alternate solution to this predicament. In one month's time, coinciding with the Summer Sun Festival, there will be a ball in honor of my sister's return. How better to honor her, then to have those who brought her back attend? (reword this)_

_ What I am saying, my student, instead of going to Ponyville, how about we bring Ponyville to you? All of your friends have been invited to attend this event, this glorious celebration. I know you were set on going to Ponyville, but I hope this is a good alternative._

_ Have faith, my little pony, and everything will turn out alright._

_ Princess Celestia_

Twilight was practically jumping around the room, too excited to speak. Spike seized the letter; by the time he finished it, a wide smile adorned his face.

Suddenly, his expression changed to that of alarm. "They're coming here!" he shouted. "I have to go get the rooms ready!" Spike ran out of the room into the hallway from which he had entered.

Twilight managed to cease her bounding in order to make it back to her desk. Body quivering with joy, she levitated a sheet of paper and a quill to her and began writing.

_To my dear friends,_

_ Princess Celestia has informed me that a grand celebration will be occurring here in Canterlot in one month's time, coinciding with the Summer Sun Festival, in honor of Princess Luna. My teacher has sent invitations to you all, and I hope that you accept. You can all stay with me, Spike, and Owloysius; in fact, Spike is already renovating for your arrival._

_ Always yours,_

_ Twilight Sparkle_

The paper and quill fell softly to the desk as Twilight released her magical hold of them. Then, focusing on the paper, her horn glowed and a thin beam of light shot from her horn, touching and engulfing the paper. With sharp pops, four more sheets came into existence.

"Number 37, if I'm not mistaken," came Spike's voice from the doorway.

"I didn't know that you still kept track." Twilight rolled the sheets into scrolls and sealed them. "Can you send these to the girls?"

Spike went to the small stack of scrolls, lifted them, and blew a single gout of flame. The scrolls vanished amongst the fire.

"Soon," Twilight said. "Soon, we all will be together again.

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><p>In the immortal words of Fluttershy, "yay."<p>

Bets on first pony to show up? Anyone?


	2. Chapter 2

Significantly shorter chapter, I know. ='( That's just the way it wrote. Future chapters will be longer.

In other news... nope. Nothing. I got nothing.

Read on!

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><p>"Well, I'd better hurry. Who knows when-" A loud knock came from the front door which was at the end of the hallway. "Who could that be?" Spike wondered. He opened the door and fell over as a pink flash shot through the door. It shot down the hallway, crashing into Twilight, who was at the door of her study. She found herself pinned to the ground by a pink mane with a fluffy pink mane and tail. On her flank, an image of 3 balloons was clearly visible.<p>

"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight said in an incredulous tone. "But, how-? When-? What-?" Twilight's mouth couldn't seem to form words properly.

"What Twilight? Didn't you say I could come over? I mean, that's what I thought you said. Because, I yelled to Mr. Cake and Pumpkin and Pound that I was going to Canterlot to see you! Then I said I was going to be gone for at least a month because there's a festival and a PARTY! You know how I love parties!"

"But, how did you get here…." Twilight sputtered out. "I sent that letter less than two minutes ago!"

"Oh, that! See, my legs were shaking, and my tail and ears were twitching, and my mane has been really, really, really poofy! So I knew something important was happening with you! So I ran here and got here yesterday, but it was really late, so I stayed at this hotel, then I ran here this morning to say hi to you! So when I got here, I was about to knock, but then I got your letter, so I read it, and then I knocked! Then Spike opened the door, and I ran here to say thank you for letting me stay here and how good it is to see you!"

Pinkie Pie paused for a moment, thinking.

"Oh, I haven't said that yet! Twilight! It's good to see you! Thank you for letting me stay here!"

Twilight seemed a bit bewildered by all of this. _'I should be used to this by now, I mean, she is Pinkie Pie!'_ Twilight thought.

A small hoot cut through the sudden silence caused by Pinkie's speech. Pinkie trotted to the Perch where Owloysius roosted. "It's good to see you too, Owloysius! Gummy says hi too!" From the hallway, a small snap was heard. Spike's head was currently in the mouth of the toothless alligator.

"This is going to be an interesting month," Twilight thought, bringing a hoof to her forehead.

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><p>And so, Pinkie Pie is the first guest to show up, in her usual near-breaking the fourth wall manner.<p>

So... Everyone ready this should review it. Yeah. Any guesses on the next pony to show up?


	3. Chapter 3

So here we are. As promised, this chapter is significantly longer than the previous.

For your reading enjoyment, THE RISING OF THE DAWN!

I don't quite know why I typed that, since you should know what you're reading, but I digress. Just ignore my ramblings and read the story already.

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><p>Normally, spending time with an energetic pink mare would be taxing at best. A pink energetic mare with a thing for parties could be described as stressful under good conditions. A pink energetic mare who loved to throw parties with the aid of a cannon that fired decorations, however, could be downright troublesome.<p>

Pinkie Pie was that pink energetic pony who loved to throw parties with the aid of her party cannon. Much to the fun-loving mare's delight, Spike and Owloysius assisted her at every turn. For nearly a week, Pinkie, Spike Owloysius, and Gummy set up decorations around Twilight rooms at the castle, in preparation of their friends' arrival.

Unfortunately, the first arrival did not appreciate getting a cannonball of confetti in her face. A white unicorn with a beautiful purple mane lay dazed outside the door of Twilight's quarters with confetti floating around her. Behind her, the dark grey unicorn stallion who was carrying her bags chuckled at the sight.

"Oops, sorry Rarity! I didn't know you were going to be there! Here let me help you up." With that, Pinkie Pie simply seemed to appear at Rarity's side, assisting her friend.

"I say, what were you doing Pinkie! You could have given me a heart attack!" Rarity's voice was somewhat exasperated as she said this.

"But I didn't!" Pinkie Pie said happily. "I've been here getting ready to throw a party once everyone arrives!"

"Oh dear…" Rarity trailed off. Turning to the unicorn carrying her bags, "You can just drop them here, Dusk. I'll take them from here." He did so, glancing around the apartment before leaving.

"Is Twilight here, darling?" Rarity asked Pinkie, lightly shaking her head, dispelling both confetti and the thoughts of parties.

"Yep! She's at the end of the hall in her study. I'm always telling her that she needs to get out and enjoy herself more…" Pinkie continued talking as Rarity walked to the closed door. Rarity carefully opened it, stepped in, and then softly shut the door behind her.

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><p>Rarity's eyes widened at the sight of her friend. Twilight was facing her window, horn radiating with magic. The glass of the window was warping, similar to how water moves when touched by a strong wind. The glass was flashing vibrant colors. Then, suddenly, the glass froze as Twilight cut off her magic.<p>

"Spike, take a note," the purple unicorn called to her assistant. "Transmuting the glass over time while adding-" she looked over several containers in front of her-"Poison Joak extract and mercury causes the glass to harden too fast in order to form a smooth enough surface. Next trial should consist of the same, but with the inclusion of fire lily petals. Hopefully that should slow it down." Spike dutifully wrote down everything she said in a rather thick ledger.

"We'll pick up again tomorrow Spike, after lunch." Twilight turned to leave the room and saw her fashion-obsessed friend. "Rarity!" she exclaimed, running to her.

Spike's head turned so fast that Rarity was concerned that he might get whiplash.

"When did you get here?" Twilight and Spike asked at the same time.

"Oh, I just got here. I decided to take a break from business; my assistants can be without me for a few weeks."

Twilight smiled at the mention of her friend's business. "How's it all going anyways? I heard that the silk worms weren't doing so well after last winter."

"No they aren't unfortunately. I've had to make do without silk for the most part this season. I was hoping to examine some of my competition during the festival and ball. I heard that Photo Finish and Hoity Toity are debuting new lines here, is that true?"

"Er…. I don't really know, I've been busy with my research, I suppose the princesses would know…" Twilight trailed off.

As Rarity continued hammering away with questions, all Twilight could think about was how happy she was that all of her friends would be back together again.

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><p>"So darling, what have you been up to?" Rarity and Twilight walked out of the study into a small common area, passing Pinkie Pie, who was now telling Owloysius her life story.<p>

"Well, you know that I moved back here to Canterlot and finished my instruction under Princess Celestia. Then she made me head of a magical research division. I've mostly been producing the designs for magical artifacts," Twilight replied. "I've been doing that for around five years now. Most of the things we've been developing have been for non-unicorns, too."

"Like what, Twilight?" Rarity asked, clearly intrigued.

"Well, right now I'm trying to create a surface that will let a pony to talk to another pony face-to-face, no matter the distance between them. Uh, before that, we developed an automated blow dryer and a device to detect life and magic. Even non-unicorns can use them!" Twilight exclaimed.

Rarity rolled her eyes at Twilight's excitement. "Twilight, how much time do you put into your work?"

"Uh, well, I work on it around half of the day, every day, so, maybe half of my time?"

"And when was the last time you got out and had some fun darling?" Rarity questioned Twilight. Twilight knew from the tone that Rarity was preparing for a long conversation.

"Just yesterday with Pinkie. We went and looked over some of the preparations for the festival," Twilight replied, not quite sure where Rarity was heading discussion.

"Twilight, that's more work. When was the last time you did something fun? Enjoyed yourself?" Rarity had raised an eyebrow, a peculiar expression crossing her face.

"Well, let's see, I've been out with Pinkie everyday this last week, before that I was supervising the Parasprite repellant project, and before that I was, uh, Spike!"

At the call, Spike rushed into the room. "What were we doing before the Parasprites?"

"That was the, uh, the… the cloud seeding project!"

"Thank you Spike," Twilight said, smiling at her assistant.

Rarity rolled her eyes yet again. "Twilight, you're working far too much. Trust me, I know. You need to get out, relax, socialize, meet some new ponies, maybe even a stallion. Get to know him, get a new house…" Rarity seemed to be in her own world, dreaming up the future.

"Uh, Rarity? RARITY!" Twilight shouted. At the call of her name, Rarity seemed to snap out of her stupor.

"Look, Rarity," Twilight began. "I- I don't want to settle down or anything like that right now. I'm far too busy; I'll have time to do stuff like that later. I just don't see myself settling down and having fillies and colts for quite a while…." Twilight trailed off, lost in thought.

"But surely there's somepony you're interested in, hmm? Maybe one of you researchers on you team, perhaps? Or someone else?" Rarity asked, earning a blush from Twilight.

Spike sighed as he witnessed the two mare's discussion. "I'm just going to go, and do that thing, that I have to do, that isn't here." Shaking his head, he left the room.

"Oh, there is someone! Oh, Twilight, who is he? Or she, I'm not one to judge!" Rarity said quickly, the words flowing smoothly out of her mouth.

Twilight's voice had softened so much, that its rivaled Fluttershy's. She mumbled slightly, cheeks still a bright red.

"Twilight? I didn't catch that. What did you say?"

Twilight cleared her throat, then whispered. "Rising Dusk."

"The baggage pony? Well, I suppose he is kind of cute, nice horn and mane. How'd you get stricken for a baggage boy though?" Rarity asked, clearly perplexed.

"He isn't a baggage boy, Rarity! He's one of the unicorns on my research team!" Twilight spoke sharply to her friend.

"But, we are talking about the same pony, aren't we? Light grey coat, black mane, cutie mark a sun and moon over the horizon?"

"Yes," the researcher said softly.

"But he carried all of my baggage up here! And didn't say a word about it! He's a magic researcher like you! Why'd he volunteer to bring the bags up here? Unless…." Rarity's eyes were darting around, focusing on unseen objects. "OH! He wanted to see you!"

Twilight shook her head. "No, he's with some other pony. I've seen them together. He's just a good pony like that." She sighed, head hanging low.

Rarity's eyes narrowed, staring intently at her friend. When she had left Fillydelphia for Canterlot, she had expected to have no work at all for a bit. A smile came to her face as she realized that playing matchmaker was much more fun than work.

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><p>BWAHAHA! As I wrote this, I am on a selfimposed high caused by forcing my brain to doing weird things, like writing. And homework. And making myself laugh at everything.<p>

Anyways, you shouldn't ignore what I'm saying right now (or is it typing right now?), and you should click that review button and leave a word. Or a dozen. It makes me feel special.

And bonus internet points to anyone guesses the next arrival at Twilight's apartment. Choices include Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and AppleJack.

So hit that Review Button, and vote. Do it now.


	4. Chapter 4

And here is another chapter! I think I'll be putting out chapters every four to five days, if anyone was wondering.

In addition, I have noticed that many authors put annotations in the beginning notes. Here goes:

"TEXT HERE" indicates standard speech.

_'TEXT HERE'_ indicates thoughts.

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><p>Rarity fretted back and forth in one of the many guest rooms in Twilight's quarters. There was still two weeks until the ball and festival and she had no clue on what to do with Twilight and Dusk. Only two obstacles were in her way: the mare with Rising Dusk, and Twilight Sparkle's shyness.<p>

'_Step 1,'_ she thought. _'Identify the competition.'_ Rarity figured that this one would be pretty easy, all she had to do was ask around about the ponies that worked with Twilight about Dusk.

Rarity was much more concerned about how hard it would be for Twilight to go out on a limb to talk to the grey unicorn. After all, Twilight had a hard time approaching things without a book. Rarity smiled and shook her head, thinking of Twilight's first sleep-over. Even when a tree had fallen through the window, Twilight was still reading. _'I'll have to force them together,'_ Rarity concluded. _'It won't give Twilight time to prepare by sticking her nose into a book.'_

'_Now all I have to do is figure out where that Dusk fellow is going to be…'_

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><p>At that moment, the unicorn known as Rising Dusk, head assistant to Princess Luna herself, was wandering the gardens of Canterlot. On his back there were saddlebags practically bursting with papers. He was, at that moment, heading to the yearly meeting of research departments.<p>

As always, Prince Blueblood was heading the meeting. _'I've always wondered who it was that gave him that position. He has no idea what he's doing after all.'_ Dusk had never seen eye-to-eye with the prince; it probably hadn't helped when Dusk had given him that sickly sweet smile at the previous royal dinner, where Dusk had set at the head table, forcing Blueblood to sit at another, less regal table. _'It was definitely worth it though.'_

_'Hopefully, the meeting will be short.'_' He snorted at the idea. The last meeting had lasted nearly two days. The only reason that one had ended was because Princess Luna was fed up with the politics and ordered Prince Blueblood to end the meeting so the division heads could get back to their work.

He suddenly had the strangest feeling that he was being watched. He looked around the gardens suspiciously, but saw nopony watching him. He shook his mane, dismissing the thought and continuing to his destination.

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><p>Rarity exited her room, still lost in thought about her friend. As she approached the kitchen to get a drink, she ran into Pinkie Pie, who was talking to Spike.<p>

"And that's when I said, 'But I don't even speak Pig Latin!'" Pinkie said laughing. Noticing Rarity, the pink pony smiled widely and bounded around the white unicorn. "Ooo! Ooo! Rarity, I wanted to ask you something!"

Rarity lifted an eyebrow at her energetic friend. "And the question is..?"

"Uh.. Just a second, I forgot," Pinkie said sheepishly. "It was about the festival and ball... Ooo! That's it! I wanted to know if you could spruce up my dress for the ball!"

Rarity gave a soft smile at her friend. "Of course, Pinkie. I can do it now, if you'd like."

"That would be wonderful!"

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><p>Twilight was standing at a table in a conference room in the castle. She would be meeting with Prince Blueblood and other of Canterlot's elite in just an hour, determining what direction the magical research division would take for the next year. She really wished that she didn't have to deal with Prince Blueblood and his ilk, but they did provide quite a bit of funding for her department.<p>

She studied the papers in front of her. '_Bigger towers. What in the name of Celestia do they need bigger towers for? Half of the towers they have aren't even used! Why did they even give this one to me! This should be for the construction committee!' _She pulled up another paper. _'Oh, it's for astronomy. Seriously? We're at the highest city in Equestria, with tall towers, and they want a bigger tower!'_

Twilight groaned and let her head fall to the table. At least her team would be here with her, to explain why all of the inane ideas where, well, inane. A light creak signaled the door opening, to which Twilight didn't even move. If it was an early member of the elite, then they didn't deserve her attention. If it was one of her team, they wouldn't really care.

The clicking of hooves against the hard floor grew louder as the owner of them approached Twilight. When they stopped near her, she twisted her head to see who it was.

'_Dusk! What's he doing here so early?' _Twilight smiled weakly at him, covering her confusion. "What are you doing here so early? Meetings not for an hour," she said, head still resting on the table.

"I reviewed the papers earlier," the grey unicorn confessed. "I figured if you reaction was anything similar to mine, then you'd need someone to talk to."

"Oh? And how did you react?"

"I didn't say anything for several minutes, staring at the paper. Really? Bigger towers? And what about the aqueduct! We don't need an aqueduct!"

"There's a request for an aqueduct!" Twilight lifted her head and began riffling through the papers. "Do they not realize that we don't construct things like that? Ah, here it is. Oh, they want an aqueduct _made_ out of water." Twilight's head slammed back into the table. "WHO COMES UP WITH THESE THINGS!"

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><p>Rarity was studying Pinkie Pie intently. She then turned to the bright yellow dress which she had put on a mannequin in her bedroom. Needles were flying about the rather large room, pinning and threading material with a speed and precision only gained through long years of practice. The yellow gown with numerous frills seemed to be under attack from the needles and thread. Suddenly, the needles flew away from the dress and landed neatly in a small container.<p>

"Pinkie, come over here darling," Rarity called to the energetic mare. Pinkie Pie bounded over to her friend, while tape measures flew to her and the dress. Rarity compared them and sighed. "A little too tight. Thank you, Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie left the room and pounced over to the kitchen, where Spike was making lemonade. "Here, Pinkie, can you try this?" the young dragon asked, holding a full glass out.

Pinkie too it and drank deeply. Her eyes moved about her head as she scrutinized the beverage. Her experience at Sugar Cube Corner let her identify the lemons and the sugar, but she tasted something else. She eyed the dragon suspiciously. "Spike did you do something to the lemonade?"

The dragon's face seemed to be on the verge of exploding with laughter. "I SPIKED IT!" he let out, falling over onto the floor, where he began rolling about laughing.

Pinkie Pie stared at hem rolling on the ground, then to the glass in her hoof, then back to Spike. A smile was beginning to form on her face. She began chuckling, then outright laughing as she too rolled on to the ground.

At this, Rarity entered the kitchen to investigate the commotion. "What's going on here? What is with this raucous behavior?"

"He- he- he-" Pinkie pie stuttered, her laughter taking her voice. She picked herself up, taking a deep breath. "He spiked the lemonade!" At this, she once again fell to the floor laughing.

Rarity stared at the two before chuckling softly. "Well played, Spike. Well played."

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><p>And here we go, another chapter gone. No new ponies introduced, but we do have a bit more on Rising Dusk, an OC.<p>

NOW HIT THE REVIEW BUTTON! I DON'T CARE WHEN YOU ARE READING THIS, HIT THE BUTTON!

I mean, if you want to, anyways. I don't want to force you readers to do anything, after all. Please though? Do it?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N** So...

I originally planned on posting this on Thursday, but then things like the internet got in the way...

And here is chapter five!

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><p>"… and so, in conclusion, these are the items that we wish you to work on for this year," Prince Blueblood said to the assembled room.<p>

Twilight looked on in awe of the pure stupidity of the 'royal' unicorn. Apparently, the elite of Canterlot had completely lost their minds this year; among other things, such as an aqueduct made out of water, they now wanted the stars to be put under control, similar to the weather, and for the sun to be slightly smaller. _'Do they not realize that WE DON'T HAVE ANY CONTROL OTHER HALF OF THE THINGS THEY WANT!' _Twilight thought.

Twilight glanced around the room, to see how her sentiments were shared. Most of the department heads had similar looks of disgust. To her right, she saw Dusk had a near blank expression, but his sides were trembling slightly. _'Trying not to laugh, I suppose,' _the magic department head thought.

Meanwhile, Prince Blueblood looked extremely pleased with himself. Looking around at the assembled ponies, he continued. "Any questions?" he said.

'_Is he being serious?' _Twilight thought, before groaning and letting her head fall to the table. She heard Dusk chuckle at her response to the incompetent prince.

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><p>"Pinkamena Pie! Come back here!"<p>

Rarity was in quite a fret. The dress she had been working on for the past few hours had disappeared _while she was watching it._ As far as she knew, there where only five ponies in all of Equestria who could do that. She had ruled out the princesses immediately; Twilight was in a meeting and Rarity knew that she herself wouldn't have stolen the dress. That left only her pink friend.

Which she could not find.

'_Where is she hiding? Twilight's apartments aren't that big….' _Rarity thought as she wandered down the hallway. She stopped, looking at the open front door.

"PINKIE PIE!"

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><p>"Prince Blueblood?"<p>

Twilight raised her head. _'Who was that?'_

"I would like to request a brief recess, so all of us can consider these…. requests," Dusk said in a firm tone.

The prince looked at Princess Luna's assistant for a moment before nodding. "Very well. We'll meet again in thirty minutes." At this, life seemed to spread back into the quiet room, conversations arising immediately.

Disk rolled his eyes and began walking out of the room. Twilight made to join him, but saw a white unicorn with saddlebags join him. _'That's her,'_ she thought sourly. _'That's the mare he's with.' _At the sight of her, Twilight turned back to the papers detailing Blueblood's plans for Canterlot.

* * *

><p>Rarity was quite tired of walking.<p>

She had been walking around Canterlot at a brisk pace, desperate to find Pinkie. The dress wasn't yet done; if anything should happen to it… Rarity shuddered at the thought.

But where could she have disappeared to? Rarity had already checked all of the logical places: the bakeries, the candy shop, even the sole party supply store. Where could that pink mare be?

* * *

><p>"Dawn, what are you doing here?" Dusk asked the white unicorn. The two of them stood just outside the meeting room.<p>

"What, have no time for me now?" she retorted as she levitated some files out of her bags. "Seriously, what's up? You seem kind of distant." She floated the documents towards Dusk.

Dusk shook his head as his magic seized the papers. "I wasn't expecting you to show up right now. I mean, this meeting is for the department heads and advisors to the princesses. This is not something I would expect you to come anywhere near! You hate meetings!"

The female unicorn just smirked at him. "And miss a chance to make you uncomfortable? Never."

"Look, I'll talk to you later. The meeting's going to start back up again any second now. Now then, Miss Setting Dawn, go back home."

"Miss Setting Dawn? I'm a miss now?"

Dusk stared at her for several long moments before she finally turned away. "Fine then. See ya' at home then," she said while walking off.

"Finally," Dusk muttered.

* * *

><p>'<em>There she is!'<em>

At the end of the street, near the castle, was Pinkie Pie. She seemed to be talking to a white unicorn that was walking away from the castle. Well, Pinkie was talking; the other mare looked rather down-trodden.

"Pinkie Pie! I've been looking all over for you!" Rarity called out to her friend. Pinkie turned to look and wave.

"Hey ya' Rarity! I'm just talking to my new friend, Dawn! Yup, I saw her walking and she looked kind of sad, so I said to myself, 'Pinkie! You know what you have to do!' So then I came over here to make her feel better, because she's my friend!"

Dawn looked up a bit and smiled a bit. Pinkie Pie was beaming.

"I would have thrown you my entire friend song," Pinkie directed at the unicorn at her side. "But I left the oven back in Ponyville, and I had no idea where I could have gotten a rhino at _this_ time of day!"

Rarity, even though she was used to these antics, brought a hoof to her face. "Pinkie Pie, I understand that you are intent on cheering up your friend here-"

"Our friend!"

"Yes, yes. Our friend. I know you want to cheer her up, but could you at least take off your gown? It's not done yet!"

Pinkie Pie looked over her shoulder, examining the dress she wore. "Oops! I guess I forgot about that!"

Rarity turned towards Dawn. "You're most welcome to join us, if you'd like."

The other unicorn smile widened a bit. "I'd like that. Thank you."

* * *

><p>Twilight looked up at Dusk as he re-entered the room. He seemed a bit… off. "You okay?" she asked.<p>

"Yeah, just dealing with some… family matters," Dusk said setting down several files. "My sister has been trying to get me to do something, but she doesn't exactly listen to me."

'_His sister! That was his sister!'_ Twilight thought. "That unicorn there was you sister?" she said cautiously.

Dusk glanced up at her. "Yeah, that was my sister, Setting Dawn. Ironic name, no?" he said, raising an eyebrow. Dusk continued while looking over the papers he had gotten from his sister. "My parents had quite a field day with our names. I mean, dusk doesn't exactly rise, and dawn certainly doesn't set!"

Twilight smiled at his small rant, but the sudden coughing of Prince Blueblood drew both of their attentions. _'And now to deal with this imbecile…'_

* * *

><p>"So, Dawn, what do you do here in Canterlot? If you were at the castle, it must be interesting," Rarity asked the unicorn sitting at the table.<p>

The three of them had headed back to Twilight's rooms, where Spike had already laid out three cups of tea for them. He had even addressed Setting Dawn, by her full name no less, much to the surprise of all three. How he knew it was a mystery to all present.

"I'm an astronomer. I run a shop in town with my brother. Well, I used to, until Princess Luna hired him. Now he's a big shot assistant to the princess," Dawn said, resentment creeping into her voice. "Now he works up at the castle all the time, and doesn't have time for the store anymore. The store's pretty much ruined now, since I'm the only one running it, trying to take on the workload of two ponies! We would be bankrupt if he didn't have the job with Luna, but if he didn't have that job, then our business wouldn't be failing!" The unicorn was yelling at the end of her rant.

"Darling, you must calm down. I'm sure your brother didn't intend for that to happen. You have told him about this, right?" Rarity asked in a soothing voice.

"Yeah," Dawn grumbled. "But he's always going on about how he's helping out more people now than he was with me. I understand that, but what about sticking with your family?"

Rarity and Pinkie shared a look of understanding. "Sometimes, we just have to let our family do their own thing. By Celestia, I know that my sister did that often enough. You might have heard of some of the disasters she and her friends caused in Ponyville," Rarity said.

Pinkie Pie spoke up just as Rarity finished. "My parents let me go when I was a little filly, right after I got my cutie mark. I used to work on their rock farm, but they let me go stay with some of our relatives in Ponyville, so I could be happy. I know that it was harder for them to work without me, but they knew that I was happier in Ponyville."

Dawn looked at the two of them, a glint of understanding in her eyes. "So you think I should just let him do his own thing? Even if it means the store's ruined?"

"Oh no, darling. But maybe you could limit yourself on the store? Only take in what you can handle?" Rarity quickly said. Dawn nodded slowly at the suggestion.

Dawn rose from her seat at the table. "Yeah, I think I can do that. Thanks for having me over, you two."

Rarity and Pinkie walked with her to the door. "Say, Dawn?" Rarity said. "Your brother wouldn't happen to be Rising Dusk, would he?"

The astronomer looked at Rarity, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering. Well, I hope your shop does well. Maybe we'll stop by tomorrow, I'm sure my sister would love a new telescope."

* * *

><p><strong>AN** And there we go. Chapter Five. Now then... Would you kindly hit that review button? I don't care when you are reading this. Leaving a review makes me feel all warm and cuddly on the inside.

Oh, and I'm still taking bets on the next mane (HAHA, mane... always cracks me up) cast member to show up. Still missing from Canterlot are Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and AppleJack. And you know how you leave your vote? BY REVIEWING! =D

So you know, hit that review button. Please?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N** And here we go! Chapter 6! This chapter took far longer than I anticipated.

Anyways, you don't want to hear me talk. Well, you can't actually hear me... 'Cuz you're reading this...

Just read it already.

* * *

><p>"…. and that is why, <em>Prince<em> Blueblood, why none of your proposals can be met!" Twilight shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice at the cowering unicorn.

At that particular moment, Twilight Sparkle was standing at the end of the long table that dominated the meeting room. Every eye had been fixated on her for the last few minutes as she had systematically dismantled each of Prince Blueblood and his ilk's plans for Canterlot's research teams.

The room was silent, save for the deep breaths that Twilight took; her rant had taken quite a bit of her voice. She hadn't really realized that using that kind of tone took that much effort; Princess Luna didn't seem to exert any effort when she used it. Then again, Luna was an alicorn.

Twilight walked down the table away from the huddled nobles. When she arrived at her seat, she deftly hopped off and sat on the cushioned seat. By this time, Blueblood had managed to recover enough to rise to his feet and begin talking.

"Uh, very well then. Our… new request of you is to continue your current research. Um… inquires and suggestions for any changes can be made following the festival next week. Dismissed." Blueblood made a beeline for the door, followed by his staff.

"That was… unorthodox," Dusk said to the self-satisfied unicorn sitting next to him. "Although this one could come back to bite you in the flank. Blueblood still hasn't forgiven me for taking his seat at the head table, and that was two years ago!"

Twilight merely rolled her eyes. "That pony? Blueblood can't do anything about this! His requests were inane and served no purpose! All I did was prevent him from wasting valuable time! He has no logical reason to be mad at me!"

"And that will stop him how?" Dusk asked. "For the last two years, I've been receiving death glares from him for just going to the feasts!"

* * *

><p>"So then," Rarity said. "Dusk doesn't have a girlfriend. That unicorn hanging out with him was his sister."<p>

"Yep!" Pinkie Pie said. "We should invite her over for some cake! Oooh! I need to invite her to Ponyville too! I can throw the full song there!"

"Yeah, Dusk has a sister. Big deal. I've known for that for the last five years," Spike said from the kitchen where he was washing the tea cups.

"WHAT!" Rarity shouted. "You've known for all this time and didn't tell us!"

"No one ever asked me! Twilight doesn't talk about all that kind of stuff."

"Spike," Rarity began, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. "How did you even know? For five years no less! Twilight doesn't even know!"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Twilight didn't really pay attention to any of the introductions of her team. She just had me take notes on all of them on what they said. She said she read the notes afterwards. I guess she just filed them away."

"So Twilight should have known that the mare hanging out with Dusk was his sister?"

"Yup."

Rarity leaned over onto Pinkie Pie, a look of disbelief crossing her face. "Twilight," she groaned. "Why couldn't you have just read the notes?"

* * *

><p>The meeting room was nearly empty; a few ponies were still present putting together papers or talking about the performance Twilight had put on.<p>

"So when did you get around to learning the voice anyways? I thought that was a royal secret or something?" Dusk asked.

"Oh, Princess Luna taught that to me after her first NightMare Night. I thought it would be handy for the next one. Or some other circumstance." Twilight replied.

"Well, I think all of us were glad that you knew it," Dusk said while rising from his chair. "Scaring Blueblood like that was quite priceless."

Twilight rose as well, following Dusk out of the meeting hall. The corridor they enter was filled with many ponies; most seemed to be scurrying around, carrying documents from department to department.

Dusk chuckled a bit. "I think that was the shortest meeting yet. Look, the sun's still out," he said gesturing towards a window.

Twilight looked out the window, noting the sun just beginning to disappear from sight behind the horizon. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at her friend. "Yep, it's just becoming dusk now," she said, earning a groan from the stallion. Twilight laughed before continuing. "C'mon, you should have seen that one coming."

"I should have, shouldn't I have? Well, I have to go. The princess wants me to tell her want happened with the meeting. I think she'll be pleasantly surprised when I show up this early." Dusk smiled and turned to leave. "I'll see you later, Twilight."

Twilight watched him begin walking down the corridor towards the Nocturnus Wing. However, he had made no more than 10 paces before he stopped and turned. "Uh, Twilight? I was kind of wondering if you were doing anything for the festival."

"Well, I am helping set up things in the town square-"

"I was talking about on a more personal level," Dusk said, cutting her off.

"Oh. OH! Um, I hadn't really thought about it," Twilight stammered. "I was kind of thinking-"

"I was wondering if you'd want to do anything together. You don't have to say anything now." Dusk paused, turning back down the hallway. "But could you maybe think about it, Twilight?" he said walking back towards the Nocturnus Wing.

Twilight stood in the hallway, watching Dusk walk out of sight.

* * *

><p>Rarity and Pinkie Pie never even heard Twilight enter the rooms; they simply saw her walk down the hallway to her study. Nearly immediately, they followed her into the study.<p>

"Well, how did the meeting go?" Rarity asked once Twilight had sat down at her desk.

"Hmm? Oh, the meeting went fine. Great actually. One of the shortest meetings we've ever had," the purple mare said while pushing papers around her desk.

"Twilight, darling, I'm sensing a but here. What happened at the meeting?" Rarity prodded.

"Yeah, Twilight! I'm feeling a really good story here! What happened?" Pinkie shouted; she was already bouncing up and down.

"No, seriously, the meeting went fine. Normally these meetings go on for days, today we got out in just an hour or two."

"Then why do you look so… unsettled?" Rarity walked over and sat next to her friend. Pinkie Pie did the same, sitting down on Twilight's other side.

"Well, afterwards, Dusk and I-"

"HA! I knew he was involved! What did he do, Twilight? I swear, with Celestia as my witness, if he did anything-" The fashionista began, only to be cut off by Pinkie Pie's hoof, which was now covering Rarity's mouth.

"Shush! I'm trying to hear the story!" Pinkie Pie said, removing her hoof. Rarity, now quiet, nodded her head.

"He didn't do anything bad. He just surprised me." Twilight's friends just stared at her.

"I think he asked me to go to the ball with him."

"He did!" Rarity exclaimed.

"That's great, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up to her feet.

"Well, he didn't exactly ask me. But he said that he wanted to spend time with me during the festival." Twilight let her head fall to the desk. "What should I do? I mean-"

Rarity placed a hoof around Twilight's shoulder. "Well, we found out today that the white unicorn with him was-" she began.

"Is his sister. I know, I found out today," Twilight finished. "So what should I do?"

"I know what we shouldn't do! We shouldn't be talking while we're thirsty! SPIKE!" Pinkie Pie cried. The purple dragon poked his head in the door.

"For the last time, I don't have any more muffins, Pinkie!" Spike shouted at the energetic mare.

"Well, you need to fix that! But I was wondering if you could bring in some of that lemonade!" Pinkie said.

Spike's eyes lit up as he dashed to the kitchen, returning with a pitcher and four glasses. He set them on the desk, then poured each of them a full cup.

"Thanks, Spike. I need this." Twilight brought the cup to her mouth and began to drink. She had barely taken a sip before she stopped and glared at Spike. He and Pinkie were already beginning to crack up. "Spike…" Twilight said in a low voice.

"HE SPIKED IT!" Pinkie Pie cried.

"I know, I know. He's been waiting for a moment to use that joke for quite a while," Twilight said, groaning. A sudden knock at the front door drew all of their attention. "I'll get it."

Twilight exited her study and walked to the front door. Outside, she heard two voices arguing. Twilight opened the door to reveal a yellow pegasus huddled face-down on the floor. Behind the cowering pegasus was another pegasus, this one blue with a rainbow-colored mane and wearing a peculiar costume.

"Fluttershy, just hurry up and knock!" the blue pegasus said.

"But, Rainbow Dash, what if she doesn't want us over right now? She's entertaining guests," Fluttershy said softly.

"Uh, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash attempted to stop her.

"I mean, what if she has new friends, and they don't like us? Or what if they're mean to us?" Fluttershy questioned, the fear evident in her voice.

"Then they wouldn't be very good friends, now would they?" Twilight said with a smile, looking towards her friends.

"TWILIGHT!" Fluttershy shouted. That is to say, at an audible enough level to be heard in the study. Rainbow Dash managed to push past the timid pegasus through the door.

Twilight examined her two pegasus friends. Fluttershy seemed much the same, although, sprawled on the floor as she was, it was difficult to tell.

Rainbow Dash had a peculiar uniform on. She was wearing a dark purple jacket with silver lapels. On her head, she wore a matching cap; in the center of both was a curious design of three crescent moons.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the uniform, for the longer she looked at it, the more she was convinced that it was a uniform. Rainbow Dash noticed the look as she helped Fluttershy up.

Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike came from the study, still chuckling at Spike's joke. At the sight of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie jumped into the air, seemingly defying gravity, then blurred into motion, stopping directly in front of Fluttershy.

"Hi, Pinkie," the yellow pegasus said. She was standing now, her confidence appearing to have returned.

"Hi, Fluttershy! Hi, Rainbow Dash!" the energetic pink mare said. "It's been a while since I've seen you two! I mean, I see Fluttershy every once in a while when she comes to the shop, but I haven't seen _you_ in forever Rainbow Dash! OOO! That's a nice costume! What's it for! Is there a costume party! Oh no! I don't have a costume! I need one! What am I-"

Rainbow Dash placed a hoof in front of Pinkie's mouth, silencing the pony. Before she could explain, however, Rarity spoke up.

"I do say! This material is exquisite! What is it? It's smooth and light like silk, but it's strong. Far too strong for silk."

"It's, uh, well," Rainbow Dash said, tongue twisting on her words. "Moonbeams."

"Moonbeams, you say? How do you harvest moonbeams? Unless…" Rarity said as she came to an understanding. "Princess Luna gave them to you? Oh I say, what did you do for the princess to give you such extravagant gifts!"

Rainbow Dash turned so her full profile was shown to her friends. "Girls, you're looking at the new Captain of the Shadowbolts!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN** Dun dun DUN! Yeah, I went there. Rainbow Dash is now the Captain of the Shadowbolts!

If you hate this idea, you can tell me by hitting the review button and stating that.

So leave me a review. It makes me happy.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N **I intended for this chapter to be out last weekend, and its Wednesday now... Yeah, shows how good my time management is.

Uh, I suppose I should say that I don't own MLP: FiM. They are owned by Hasbro. Yup.

Okay, stop reading the A/N, just read the story.

* * *

><p>Twilight's eyes widened at the revelation. "The Shadowbolts! Weren't you a member of the Wonderbolts!"<p>

Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof and put it behind her head sheepishly. "Uh, yeah, I was. But about a year ago, the princess went to one of our shows. After the show, she was really impressed with my flying, she practically begged me to join! So about a month ago, I took her up on it."

The uniformed mare chuckled. "The first day, I showed them how to actually fly. I mean, I flew circles and squares and all sorts of shapes around them." She smirked. "So they just decided to make me captain and be done with it!"

Pinkie Pie hugged her friend, showing unusual restraint as she didn't disturb the clothing at all. "Congratulations, Rainbow Dash! We should throw a party! Yeah!" With that, Pinkie Pie disappeared from the entry hall, to the kitchen if the sounds emitting from that room were any indicator. Spike left as well, presumably to help.

"Uh, yeah, ok?" Rainbow Dash said to the now-vanished Pinkie. "So what's been going on with you girls?"

Rarity was quick to speak up. "Well, Twilight has her eyes on a certain stallion."

Twilight immediately grabbed the nearest book with her magic and chucked it at the fashionista. "Rarity!"

"What? It's true!" The white unicorn nimbly dodged the book.

"I would like to know more about him, Twilight," Fluttershy's soft voice called out.

"Yeah, me too!" Rainbow was hovering near Rarity.

"Fine then!" Twilight shouted. She took a deep breath to calm herself, then said to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, "His name is Rising Dusk and we work together. Happy?"

"The egghead? You like an egghead?" Rainbow Dash said incredulously. "Well, I guess that makes sense, you are an egghead after all." Twilight frowned at her blue friend.

"You know Dusk?" The purple unicorn asked.

"Of course. He's one of Luna's advisors. So am I, for that matter." She paused, looking at the expressions on Twilight's and Rarity's faces. "Yup, I'm her flight advisor. Dusk is like her magic advisor or something. I kind of forget. Didn't seem very interesting."

Rarity rolled her eyes at the comments. "Of course you would say that, Dashie darling. You find nearly anything not related to flying boring."

"It's not my fault if he doesn't do anything cool. All I ever see him do is stargazing," Rainbow shot back. "That's right, stargazing. Not any cool magic stuff. Ever."

"Magic is a lot more than just flashiness," Twilight said to her rainbow-maned friend. "Magic is a lot of effort as well. You can't just think of something and it happens."

"Anyways, back to the subject at hand, Twilight has her eyes on a stallion. I think that answers one question-" Rarity began before cut off by Twilight.

"Rarity! You know that-" Twilight stuttered.

"Please Twilight, I was just joking." Rarity tossed her mane out of her eyes. "And with how you've been acting around the stallions of Equestria..." Rarity trailed off after receiving a glare from Twilight.

Both of them turned towards Fluttershy, who had coughed slightly to garner their attention. "Why do you like him? I mean, if you don't me prying..." the pale yellow pegasus asked, her voice clearly nervous.

Twilight pondered the question for several seconds before answering. "I guess," Twilight began, "it's because he doesn't see me as Celestia's student like everypony else does. He doesn't see me as someone who's a bookworm or a pony who's too bossy. He sees me as, well, me."

"Now isn't that romantic," Rarity said. "Not to mention that he's absolutely gorgeous. And he walks like he's royalty!"

"Jeez, Rarity, you almost sound like you're with him," Rainbow Dash commented.

"What? Oh no, I have my eyes on someone else!"

"Oh really?" Rainbow had crossed the distance between the two of them in less than a second.

"Spill!" she practically shouted.

Whatever Rarity would have said would never be known, for at that moment, the pink mare known as Pinkie Pie exploded out of the kitchen. Before her was her infamous party cannon. "Party!" she called out.

Twilight and Rarity knew enough from living with her to duck; Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash didn't. The confetti that shot from the cannon passed over both of the unicorns and covered the pegasi. Both of the covered ponies had looks of utter shock from the confetti.

Surprisingly, Fluttershy recovered first from her sitting position. She looked at the two of them, then towards the three clean mares.

"Yay," she said.

* * *

><p>The party had gone well, albeit with a few minor mishaps. The biggest one being that Rainbow didn't know that the lemonade had been spiked. Twilight visibly grimaced at the pun. After ensuring that the half-drunk pegasus made it to her room, left her apartment for a walk amongst the now present lunar sky.<p>

She walked through the palace gardens for several hours, finally stopping and sitting in front of the statue of the imprisoned Discord. His arms were still outstretched, as if trying to shield himself.

"Twilight?" a voice called out. Twilight turned to look at the voice. She saw Luna's advisor walking towards her.

"Hmm? Oh, Dusk!" Twilight could feel the blood rushing to her face. "What are you doing out here?"

"I walk out here a lot; it helps clear my mind." He stopped and sat next to her, joining her gaze towards the statue. "Remembering the past?" he asked.

"Yes and no," Twilight replied.

The unicorn stallion raised an eyebrow at this.

"Well, I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. My friends, my job, the future in general really. I mean, here I am, working at the castle, but I don't really know what I want to do. I don't see myself working here in five years, you know? I just don't see me doing this. My job and my friends all make me happy, but I don't know what I want. My friends all are moving on, doing things. Meanwhile, I've been here for the past five years."

"So you want to know what you'll be doing in five years or so?" Dusk replied. "What if you don't like what you see?"

"Then I'd try to change it. The future isn't set in stone."

Dusk looked at her, his face clouded. He gave a small smile. "Always trying to change the world. Well then, we should probably head back towards our rooms." He rose and gestured for Twilight to do the same. The two walked side by side, until they reached the tower where Twilight lived.

"You know," Dusk said. "You never did answer my question."

"What..." Twilight managed to stutter.

"If you would go to the Summer Sun Celebration with me," he said, staring into her eyes.

Twilight blushed and looked away. "I, uh..."

"Do you?" he asked again.

"Yes," Twilight whispered after a moment. "Yes, I would like to go to the festival with you."

She looked up and realized how close they were.

* * *

><p><strong>AN** Oh, no! I left you on a cliffhanger! Why would I do something like that? Oh, right, dramatic effect. I'm not apologizing for it.

So now all I have to do is introduce AppleJack, another semi-important OC, and plot elements. Wait, that's what all writers do.

Review please? Pretty please?


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N** I would like to thank _The Feral Muse, Anubis the Muse, _and __TheKageKitsune000 __for editing this. You should read their stuff. I certainly have absolutely no part in helping their works at all. I promise.

I broke my promise.

Originally, I wanted to release chapters weekly, then three every two weeks, then weekly again... I just have no clue on what to do. I meant to get this out on the weekend, but now just seemed right.

Oh well, you've heard enough of me rambling on. Read on.

* * *

><p>"Twilight dear, you look awfully tired," Rarity called out from the dining room table, her head in her hooves. All around the table, Twilight's friends were acting in similar ways.<p>

"And all of you look hung over," the purple unicorn said, opening the curtain. Bright sunlight filtered into the apartment, earning groans of pain from the gathered ponies as the light touched their eyes. "C'mon now, it was just some lemonade!"

"Some 'spiked' lemonade," Rainbow called out. Weak chuckling was heard from around the room.

"Are you guys trying to run the joke into the ground? Seriously, that's like the most obvious pun!"

* * *

><p>A few hours later, along with several ice-cold showers, the group of mares was walking around Canterlot, admiring the shimmering and ornate decorations going up for the upcoming festival. Not only were there beautiful sun ornaments, but amazing moon ornaments were there as well, in the honor of Princess Luna.<p>

Twilight saw some of her and her colleagues work as well; magic-infused gemstones, with pictures inside of them that went through the phases of the moon, as well as beautiful moving glass sculptures were present at one of the many hastily set-up stalls.

She also saw many ponies she recognized; Ms. Cheerilee, the teacher from Ponyville, was wandering around the market place, followed by her latest class of students. Twilight saw the mayor of Ponyville chatting up an earth pony vendor with a poker chip cutie mark; he was running some sort of game station. She even saw Lyra and Bon-Bon, who as far as she could tell, were entertaining some of the local children.

But off in the distance, she saw a distinct large red earth pony pulling an enormous wagon. She gestured to her friends, who took notice of the earth pony. They made their way through the crowd; finally, they reached the gigantic pony pulling the wagon, which had a large red apple painted on the side.

"Hey there, Big Mac!" Twilight called out.

"Eee... hello!" Big Macintosh replied, detaching his harness and turning towards them.

"Hey, who is that?" a voice called out from the cart. A yellow head with a red mane shot out of a window in the cart. "Twilight! Hey gals, how ya'll doing?"

Rarity was first to answer. "We're all doing fine, Applebloom. Is my sister with you?"

"Geez, Rarity. No, 'Hi, how are you?'" Applebloom retorted, earning herself a glare from Big Mac. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry. Nah, Sweetie Bell's coming with y'alls folks tomorrow."

"And Applejack?" Rainbow Dash said, settling to the ground.

"Um, she said she'd be heading out tomorrow. She wanted to talk to Granny." At that, the group bowed their heads in respect to the late member of the Apple Family.

"But she said that she would be heading out real quick-like once she paid her dues. She seemed real excited to be with y'all again," Applebloom said, cheering the group up. "Oh, did ya' hear? I got my cutie mark! Here, I'll show y'all!"

Applebloom tried to climb out of the wagon, but was only successful in getting her front half out. "Sour apples? I'm stuck!" She squirmed as much as she could, but to no avail. Big Mac walked over to his sister, carefully examining her predicament.

"So what's the sauce, big bro? Is it bad?" Applebloom asked, desperation in her voice.

"Eee... nope."

"So you can get me out?"

"Eee... nope."

"Caterpillars."

Big Mac turned to Twilight and company, gesturing for them to move along. As they did so, Applebloom's cries were clearly audible.

"Aww, I wanted to show them all! Oh well, maybe next time..."

* * *

><p>As the group entered the town's main square, chuckles were shared amongst the mares.<p>

"Well, at least she finally got it," Twilight spoke up. "She still didn't have it when I left five years ago. Hopefully, she won't be obsessive about it anymore."

"Don't be so sure about that one, Twilight. Applebloom got her's a year ago. She's still going on about it," Rarity responded to Twilight.

"Well, when something awesome like that happens, maybe she should show it off. I mean, she _was _the last pony to get hers after all. Even comparing her to Applejack, she was a late bloomer," Rainbow Dash snapped back.

"It is good to know she's found her place," Fluttershy said, gently stepping between the two.

"Yes, it is nice, isn't it? And now- wait. Where did Pinkie go?" Twilight said, glancing around.

Rainbow Dash brought a hoof to her face. "Is that even a question? She's probably getting ready to throw a party."

* * *

><p>Pinkemina Diane Pie was, at that moment, not preparing to throw a party. Actually, she was engrossed in conversation with a few buffalo who had come to Canterlot as ambassadors of their people. After a bit, she moved on, but not before mentioning that if they ever stopped by Ponyville, she would be more than glad to serve them at SugarCube Corner.<p>

The pink pony bounded around the city, meeting a number of exotic individuals; she met several griffins, a small delegation of zebras, and even a self-proclaimed beast tamer. As she passed from one group to the next, she invited each to stop by her place of work in Ponyville.

Well, in all honesty, Pinkie Pie was preparing for a party. Just not one in the immediate future. She intended to throw a small celebration for each of those that she had invited. It was simply the way she was, always looking to celebrate. She was bounding about, thinking of all the interesting folks she had met, when she was stopped by two words.

"Pinkemina Pie," a loud voice called out. Pinkie Pie stopped and turned slowly towards the voice.

"Hi dad."

* * *

><p>Twilight and her friends had continued walking along the streets of Canterlot, admiring the wares of the many shop keepers. Twilight felt much more at ease in the city, especially since it had grown in recent years. The influx of the shopkeepers and townsfolk swiftly pushed the ratio of the upper-class down. Indeed, most of the ponies in the city were considered middle-class, those with their own trade. The wealthy upper-class was still preset; most of them funded the stores in exchange for discounted items.<p>

Twilight grinned as she recalled the initial storm of ponies a few years earlier. She knew many were backed by Princess Luna, her own effort to make up for her past actions. Initial resistance was minimum as the stores quickly proved their value.

Since then, Canterlot's already bustling economy exploded. Some of the 'fancy' ponies still opposed the new stores, but their cries were largely ignored. Twilight continued walking, lost in her memories, until a voice snapped her out of them.

"You really should watch where you're going." Twilight looked at the owner of the voice. He was framed by sunlight, but she knew who the voice belonged to.

"Oh, Dusk, how good to see you again," Rarity called out, loud enough for the entire group to hear over the bustle of the crowds. Glances were exchanged as the group rapidly began to talk.

"Well then, I'm going back to that boutique we saw a few streets back," Rarity said, swiftly moving away.

"Um… I'm going to go and look at those animals at the market square. One of those turtles looked awfully sick," Fluttershy meekly let out. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Rising Dusk," she said, backing away.

"Likewise," the unicorn stallion responded, a peculiar expression spreading across his face. He turned to Rainbow Dash. "And you, Flight Marshal? What's your excuse?"

"Well then, _Head Advisor,_ I'm going to go check on my team. Make sure they're doing their drills properly," the ShadowBolt captain replied before flying off.

"It seems my friends have conspired against me," Twilight said softly, just loud enough for Dusk to hear.

"It certainly seems that way, doesn't it?" Dusk replied to the purple unicorn in the same tone. "Well then, I have a feeling that your friends are going to be busy for some time."

"So what should we do with our time?" Twilight asked, a glint in her eye. "I haven't read _anything_ on this subject."

"Don't act so coy with me, Ms. Sparkle," the stallion replied, the humor evident in his voice. "I know there must be something you want to do."

"Well, there are some things I want to do around the city…" Twilight let her voice trail off, the questioning tone clear.

"Then let's see what we can do."

* * *

><p>AN We've gotten ambitious. Several writers and I have decided we are going to write a story. TOGETHER. Info on that will be coming out soon.

ITC: We saw Pinkie meet her father, Twilight and Dusk begin traveling through the pre-festival, and Applebloom's non-existant cutie mark.

Now then. I would like to thank Anonymous, who continues to review this story. Thank you, Anonymous! Onto other things, how many people think they know where this story is going? Cuz I would sure as hell like to, so I know what I need to write. Kidding, I know where the story is going.

Does anyone have any guesses? Other than Anubis. I would love to know what the readers think.

Now could you, perhaps, hit that review button? It makes me feel warm inside.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N **And so here we are again. I need to come up with something to say here on a regular basis. So, once again for your reading enjoyment, may I present, The Rising of the Dawn. - Aeterna

* * *

><p>"So... dad. What are you doing here?" Pinkie Pie asked in a subdued voice. "It's been a while."<p>

"Pinkemina... I've been looking for you. I went to that place you work at in Ponyville, but my cousin told me that you had left, coming here for this festival."

"And? You didn't come here just to see me, dad. You haven't seen me in years. What is it?" The pink pony's voice had a definite edge to it.

"It's... your mother. She's sick. She wants to see you before... before..." The old pony's voice trailed off.

Pinkie Pie's face softened at the revelation her father sprung on her. She looked him in the eye and said, "Ok, then. I just need to take care of some things."

* * *

><p>"So what do you think Twilight and Dusk are doing?" Rainbow Dash asked Rarity.<p>

"I don't know; I hardly know the stallion," Rarity answered irritably. Rainbow had asked variations of the same question for nearly ten minutes.

"Maybe they're going to the petting zoo. Oh! If they are, then maybe we shouldn't go there," Fluttershy spoke up, her voice clearly anxious.

"Don't be a silly filly, Fluttershy. Dusk is pretty cool. I've worked with him a few times," Rainbow Dash said.

"If you're worked with him before, why don't you know what he'd be doing? Actually, how much do you know about him?" Rarity asked, a small frown adorning her face.

"Well, we're both advisors to Princess Luna, but you already knew that," Rainbow Dash said proudly. "Let's see, Dusk is Luna's magic advisor, so that makes him pretty much like how Twilight is to Celestia."

"He's that important!" Rarity gasped. "I thought he was just some minor advisor or an aide! I didn't realize that he was that high up!" The white unicorn seemed to be on the verge of fainting.

"Uh... Rarity?" Fluttershy whispered.

"Maybe he could put in a good word for me with the princess. I'm sure if both of you did, she could help me with my career..."

"Don't you already have a clothing line in Fillydelphia or something?" Rainbow Dash inquired while raising an eyebrow.

Rarity just continued on, oblivious to her two friends. "I'm sure that Princess Luna would give me access to some of those fabulous moonbeams if two of her advisors vouched for me!"

"Rarity?" Both of the pegasi were staring intently at the fashionista who seemed to have worked herself into a daydream.

"Maybe she would even wear some of my dresses! Could you imagine? A princess wearing my dresses! The things it could do to my career!"

"Rarity!" Fluttershy's voice was loud enough to break her out of her daydream stupor.

"Oh, thank you Fluttershy. I guess I got a little carried away there, didn't I?" Rarity apologized, looking quite flushed.

"Uh, Rarity? I think Luna already has a clothing designer," Rainbow Dash said.

Rarity looked very downtrodden at that revelation.

* * *

><p>"Ok. So all we have to do is get a ring on that moving bottle?" Twilight asked that booth-keeper, gesturing towards a bottle floating in a pool of water.<p>

"That's right," the earth pony responded.

"And the ring can't touch any of those hanging wires?" Dusk asked, raising his hoof to point at said wires.

"That's correct!" the vendor said happily.

"And we're allowed to use magic, but only to move the ring?" Twilight said suspiciously, eyeing the thin metal hoops.

"Yes sirree! Entry is two bits, winner gets one of these exquisitely made stuffed animals!" Lined around the stall were stuffed toys of varying shapes; dragons, birds, and bears were among them.

Dusk narrowed his eyes at the floating bottle. It was bobbing and spinning in the shallow pool. He glanced at the ceiling of the booth, where dozens of wires hung, most of which were nearly touching the water.

"I'll have a go," Twilight said, laying down two bits. The vendor quickly moved them away and placed down three hoops.

"One ring gets a prize, get all three for a bonus!" he said excitedly.

Twilight cast a passing glance at the rings, then levitated one, examining it closely. Then, she quickly began moving it through the swaying wires, stopping just short of the bottle. The ring was vertical and almost there, but a wire had swung between the two. She waited patiently until the wire had moved away, then nimbly dropped the hoop on the bottle.

She glanced at the last two rings, then lifted both with her magic. At once, they flew into the cluster of wires, one following the other. However, in the course of doing so, the first touched a wire, causing a chain reaction. The wires began to move haphazardly, making Twilight lose her concentration, allowing her final ring to touch a wire.

"Too bad, my dear mare! Do, however, pick up a prize!" The vendor cheerfully said. Twilight frowned slightly, but did pick up a stuffed dragon.

"I'll have a go," Dusk said.

"Very well, that'll be two bits," the game owner said. In response, Dusk laid down the bits. The vendor took them away and put down three rings. "You know the rules, and good luck!"

Dusk simply smiled and grabbed all three rings. He carefully stacked them onto each other. Once satisfied, he moved them as one into the tangled mess of wires. The rings moved as one, narrowly darting past wires, nearly touching the water of the pool. Finally, with deft movements, they slid onto the bottle.

The vendor's mouth at this point was wide open; he was clearly flabbergasted. As far as he could recall, no one had ever gotten all three rings before, definitely not all at once!

"Ahem?"

The vendor looked at Dusk and Twilight.

"I believe you said there was a special prize?"

The vendor wordlessly took out a small voucher from beneath the counter and slid it to the two unicorns.

"Why, thank you, good sir," Dusk said, before he and Twilight walked away. As soon as the two were out of earshot of the dumb-struck salesman, they began laughing.

* * *

><p>As night began to fall, Twilight and Dusk met up with Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash outside the tower containing Twilight's rooms. Rarity had returned with several bags of what was presumably cloth and other clothing supplies, while Fluttershy had none other than Philomena the Phoenix perched on her back.<p>

Twilight and Dusk both looked bewildered at the appearance of Princess Celestia's pet, to which Fluttershy said that it had appeared with a note from the princess asking her to watch over the regal bird for a few days.

Rainbow Dash said that she had that night's weather patrol to do and that she would try to get back early. With that, she flew off in the direction of Cloudsdale.

Rarity and Fluttershy headed up to the rooms, leaving Twilight and Dusk alone outside the tower.

"So..." Dusk began.

"I had fun today," Twilight said quickly. Gesturing to the stuffed dragon toy, she continued. "I also liked it when you made that guys face go 'bleh!'"

Dusk chuckled at the thought. "Yeah, that was funny, wasn't it?'

"Yeah... speaking of which, what was that voucher for?" At this, Dusk stiffened before removing the ticket from the saddlebag he wore. He floated it to Twilight.

"A one-week trip around Equestria! Visiting all sorts of places like Neighjing, Prance, and Spurta! Why'd you hide this?" Dusk gestured for her to keep reading.

"For two... oh. OH!" The two unicorns made eye contact before both blushed furiously. "Oh, uh..."

"It's fine, it's just a stupid trip..." Dusk trailed off.

"And you wanted to know..."

"... Yeah."

"Um, I'll think about it. I mean, I'm busy, you're busy," Twilight began talking.

"Exactly. Neither of us could probably go. Too much work to do."

"Yeah... but Dusk?"

"Yes?"

"If we had the time," Twilight said. "I would like to go."

Dusk stared silently at Twilight before smiling.

"Well then, good night, Dusk." Twilight turned to enter the tower.

"Twilight?" She stopped and turned, only to stop again as she felt a kiss on her cheek.

"I had fun today, too. Good night, Twilight."

Twilight Sparkle stood there for a good minute before coming to her senses. She walked up the stairs to her apartment, a smile across her face.

* * *

><p><strong>AN** And so we have another chapter. Now then, a quick question. Who thinks that all of this is a big set up? And by set up, I mean something big and scary and nast happening. Well, if you're thinking that, you're paranoid. Seriously, you are. But just remember, paranoia can save your life.

I am currently working on another story as well; it's called 'The Followers of the Banished.' I would adivse you all to be on the lookout for that one. Its a collaboration between me and five other writers.

Any questions or concerns over this story? You can address them to me be REVIEWING! PLEASE DO SO! - Aeterna


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